Should I protect this small flush draw?

[gobbledygeek]

I don't understand the concerns about turning our hand "face up". I play 2/4 live and when I check/raise the flop, check/call a non-flush turn and then bet the flush river, I get multiple calls from people "keeping me honest" and "knowing they're beat" every single time. I'm sure I'd get the occasional worse hand to call me on the river even if I did literally play my had face up. But besides all that, even if you do play your hand face up you make money on the flop check-raise (with enough opponents) even if no other bets go into the pot due to the equity advantage.

GcluelessnoobplayingwithblindopponentsG